Brick by brick

If you have been following along, you know I have a theory that psychopathic personalities are drawn to CEO positions and periodically I offer up a tidbit for your consideration through this lens. My latest offering is a piece by James Kwak, who says the following:

...somehow the bankers came out of it with the same unshakable belief in their own perfection that they had in 2005. The only plausible explanation is some kind of powerful personality disorder.

Source: Wall Street CEOs are nuts

Perhaps Wall Street bankers are behaving as if they have no shame because they have no shame?

A governmental drowning?

When I look at the handling of the BP oil spill I think I am looking at the drowning of the US government in a bath tub.

Why?

BP is a foreign-owned corporation that is usurping US sovereignty when it comes to freedom of the press: Details here

BP is also fouling US territorial waters and Barak Obama seems more concerned with raising campaign cash in California than holy hell in the Gulf.

For at least a month oil is going to be sliming its way into bayou country and I don't think the magnitude of that has dawned on the Gulf Coast officials currently busying their giddy little minds about serving BP even more sycophantically. It does seem to have dawned on James Carville, who is out there trying to fire up the commander in chief (small c, small c at the moment).

I find it disturbing that even at the local level politicians are serving up the carcasses of their neighbors to the maws of a global elite. That is what I call systemic servitude! This is government of the corporations and by the corporations, from sea to sheening sea.

I therefore have come to believe that this is dysfunctional government of the type Grover Norquist has long salivated after. I suppose we should all congratulate him on a job well done, but I haven't the stomach for it.

It is depressing to think that "whores for boors" is going to be this generations legacy to the next. It is unlikely we will be known as the greatest generation, or even a runner-up.

Why I oppose the death penalty

The primary reasons I oppose the death penalty are that humans make mistakes, and execution is permanent.

To illustrate my point, I would like to bring two cases to your attention:

1. Raymond Towler was convicted of raping an 11 year old girl almost 30 years ago. His conviction was overturned with DNA testing, which was unavailable at the time. You can read about it here.

2. James Bain was convicted of raping and kidnapping a nine year old boy 35 years ago. His conviction was also overturned with DNA testing and he is now looking forward to "eating fried turkey and drinking Dr Pepper." You can read about his case here.

I expect that both men were viewed as the worst kind of criminals when they were tried and convicted. Had their sentences been execution, then James and Raymond would not see their families again, nor eat fried turkey.

To know these facts and argue for a death penalty anyway is to pay too much respect to violence, and too little to Justice.

Quick hit

Of AAA-rated subprime-mortgage-backed securities issued in 2006, 93 percent — 93 percent! — have now been downgraded to junk status.

Source

Just sayin'...

If the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind...
And, you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows...
Then, doesn't that imply we can find the answer?

GOP rejects fiscal discipline for Wall Street

Is the public financing of elections proving to be irrelevant?

I was thinking this morning, after Republican senators covered themselves in partisan shame, that Olympia Snowe from Maine could easily have voted for Wall Street regulation.

Why do I say this?

She is from a blue state, moreover Americans support fiscal reform by a 2-to-1 margin.

If the GOP wants to punish her, she has the option to get public financing for her next campaign.

If she were pushed too hard, any party that could have Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman as members would easily welcome her. In that case, her influence would go up rather than down as she would now represent the majority party.

Michael Steele is widely perceived as incompetent within his own ranks, therefore one could imagine being forgiven for rejecting his advice.

Her main priority is supposedly bolstering small businesses, but Wall Street is destroying their access to finance.

Isn't it obvious that the lure of public financing is not pulling Senator Snowe into orbit?

When not even someone like Senator Snowe will do what is sensible, when what is sensible is also popular, then what does that say about the GOP?

The party of Main Street? It is to laugh!

The party of Fiscal Discipline? I jeer in your direction!

The party of Personal Responsibility? What an unsophisticated delusion!

Insane in the membrane

Accepting the idea that our major CEOs are morally insane, or psychopathic personalities, gets easier every day with exploration. The title of this article by Steven Pearlstein is another brick in the wall:

Wall Street's know-it-alls can't tell right from wrong

All I'm saying is that it is very likely the obvious is True. Wall Street CEOs are not immoral, they are amoral, or literally incapable of weighing moral decisions. They have desires that they satisfy and there is nothing else.

In this context, what finance regulations do is protect profit for the investor from the management.

Penny wise and pound foolish?

The US Chamber of Commerce is an organization that normally concerns itself with Main Street businesses, which is to say small businesses. Lately, however, it is helping Wall Street by backing Justice Roberts Citizens United decision and fighting balance sheet transparency (regulation and oversight).

Isn't the playing field gamed enough in Wall Mart's favor?

I find this behavior as illogical as a Sarah Palin paragraph.

Tea Party

I have read the Tea Party plans to be demonstrative today. In their honor I present my watercolor interpretation of the tea party:

Steeling themselves...

I think that the best argument the GOP can make against government is to get their candidates elected.

How can a party that spends donor money at bondage clubs promote fiscal responsibility?

How can a party led by a finger-pointing, race-card playing, unqualified leader promote personal responsibility?

The GOP has more than a personnel problem with Michael Steele, they have a messaging problem.

Perhaps that is why the calls for his removal are growing louder by the day.

Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

When there are treason laws already on the books why would president Obama target U.S. Citizens for assassination?

Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

The Constitution is clear on what Treason is and what branch of government has the authority to address the threat.

Where is the Supreme Court and where is Congress?

For that matter, where is the Tea Party on this very real threat to freedom?

ADDENDUM:

In this segment Keith Olbermann reports on the issue and asks, where are the liberals and progressives:

Part one:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Part two:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Quick hit

"Of $15 billion in income taxes last year, Exxon paid none of it to Uncle Sam, and has tens of billions in earnings permanently reinvested overseas."

Source

Papal pride goeth

Christopher Hitchens isn't mincing his words when it comes to the recent priest-rape cover-up.

Netanyahu is tone-deaf

Netanyahu's latest speech to AIPAC reminds me how poorly Israel does politics. To have Netanyahu stand on American soil in front of cameras and strive to make a jackass of our president is really too much:

Badly played, and in poor taste

Perhaps the money we normally send to Israel can be put to better use?

Quick hit

In France, where abortion is covered by universal health insurance, there are 20% fewer abortions per capita than in the US.

Keynes quotation

This notion that the morally insane would be naturally attracted to power, and thereby to the role of corporate CEOs, has really gotten a hold of my imagination. When I read quotes like the following, I am left feeling as if I've missed the obvious for so long that I am embarrassed by my naivete.

"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."

— John Maynard Keynes -

Apparently, those with a proclivity towards horrible grammar make excellent economists.

Lehman Bros Accounting Tricks

Here is a fantastic video that simplifies the mess on Wall Street so that even I can grasp it:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

HCR

When it comes to answering the question, "Should Health Care Reform pass?", I think it is a good idea to refer to a medical dictum: "First, Do no harm".

If this bill does not go far enough to provide health insurance to all Americans, that is not the same thing as making matters worse. Since doing nothing is what will be harmful to people, then I say hold your nose and pass the bill.

From a political perspective this is an easy decision. Democrats are widely perceived as noodle-armed weaklings that are intelligent but indecisive. To do nothing is to further that perception. To pass the bill, especially over GOP objections, combats the perception on two fronts.

From Funny or Die

Here is a video which reunites past comic presidential impersonators for a message directed at Barak Obama:

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

A crown of thorns

As I watch a single-payer healthcare-for-all die, and climate crisis legislation die, and legislation to police morally insane CEOs die, I become confirmed in my view that America is a one-party system.

The rot seems insurmountable.